Open AccessSpatiotemporal characteristics of electrocortical brain activity during mental calculation
Author(s) -
Vansteensel Mariska J.,
Bleichner Martin G.,
Freudenburg Zac V.,
Hermes Dora,
Aarnoutse Erik J.,
Leijten Frans S.S.,
Ferrier Cyrille H.,
Jansma Johan Martijn,
Ramsey Nick F.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
human brain mapping
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.005
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1097-0193
pISSN - 1065-9471
DOI - 10.1002/hbm.22593
Subject(s) - neuroscience , precentral gyrus , psychology , stimulus (psychology) , brain activity and meditation , functional magnetic resonance imaging , middle frontal gyrus , superior frontal gyrus , electroencephalography , prefrontal cortex , parietal lobe , occipital lobe , brain mapping , cognition , cognitive psychology , magnetic resonance imaging , medicine , radiology
Mental calculation is a complex mental procedure involving a frontoparietal network of brain regions. Functional MRI (fMRI) studies have revealed interesting characteristics of these regions, but the precise function of some areas remains elusive. In the present study, we used electrocorticographic (ECoG) recordings to chronometrically assess the neuronal processes during mental arithmetic. A calculation task was performed during presurgical 3T fMRI scanning and subsequent ECoG monitoring. Mental calculation induced an increase in fMRI blood oxygen level dependent signal in prefrontal, parietal and lower temporo‐occipital regions. The group‐fMRI result was subsequently used to cluster the implanted electrodes into anatomically defined regions of interest (ROIs). We observed remarkable differences in high frequency power profiles between ROIs, some of which were closely associated with stimulus presentation and others with the response. Upon stimulus presentation, occipital areas were the first to respond, followed by parietal and frontal areas, and finally by motor areas. Notably, we demonstrate that the fMRI activation in the middle frontal gyrus/precentral gyrus is associated with two subfunctions during mental calculation. This finding reveals the significance of the temporal dynamics of neural ensembles within regions with an apparent uniform function. In conclusion, our results shed more light on the spatiotemporal aspects of brain activation during a mental calculation task, and demonstrate that the use of fMRI data to cluster ECoG electrodes is a useful approach for ECoG group analysis. Hum Brain Mapp 35:5903–5920, 2014 . © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc .